Super Bowl Sunday Open Thread

America's greatest de facto holiday is here. Super Bowl Sunday is set to give us an excellent game, as the Denver Broncos and the NFL's top offense face the Seattle Seahawks and the NFL's top defense in the New Jersey Meadowlands. It should be an uncharacteristically cold Super Bowl, but not an unbearable one, as temperatures are expected to be in the high-30's/low-40's by kickoff. Hopefully we'll get some unpredictable blizzard or a spontaneous garbage storm (/New Jersey'd) to liven the atmosphere up a bit.

Before we toss SB Nation's infographic your way, lemme share with you the chicken wings recipe I'll be preparing tonight. It's probably too late for you to prepare these, but you're gonna want to mark this one down for future reference.

HOT WINGZZZ

5lb chicken wings
1/2 gallon water
1/2 cup salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons molasses (you could sub out the sugar and molasses for dark brown sugar - I didn't have any at the time so I combined the two because that's exactly what brown sugar is)
1 tsp red pepper flake
1/2 tsp mustard seed
5 black peppercorns
3 allspice berries
2 sprigs fresh thyme
1 bay leaf

Combine everything aside from the wings in a saucepan. Bring to a boil to prepare your brine. Boil for a few minutes, then let it cool and combine it with a couple dozen ice cubes. Put the wings in large freezer bags and cover them with the brine. Put the bags of brining chicken in the fridge (I like to put the bags in a large bowl or a casserole dish to avoid spillage) for 24 hours.

Bring two quarts of oil to 375 degrees in a dutch oven. Remove the wings from the brine and pat dry with a tea towel or paper towels. Fry the wings in batches for 3 or 4 minutes or until crispy on the outside. Toss with whatever sauce you'd like (classic Buffalo is melted butter, hot sauce, white vinegar, salt and pepper - go light on the butter and vinegar to get the flavor you want) and serve. If you want to make bleu cheese dressing for dipping, put some crumbled bleu cheese in some greek yogurt and whisk it together with some lemon juice. Done.

Share with us what you're eating and drinking in the comments thread. Also, let us know who you're pulling for and why.

Infographic

Odds to Win Super Bowl MVP at Bovada

Peyton Manning (DEN) 8/5
Russell Wilson (SEA) 13/4
Marshawn Lynch (SEA) 6/1
Demaryius Thomas (DEN) 16/1
Wes Welker (DEN) 16/1
Richard Sherman (SEA) 16/1
Percy Harvin (SEA) 16/1
Knowshon Moreno (DEN) 18/1
Eric Decker (DEN) 20/1
Julius Thomas (DEN) 25/1
Golden Tate (SEA) 33/1
Earl Thomas (SEA) 33/1
Doug Baldwin (SEA) 40/1
Montee Ball (DEN) 50/1
Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie (DEN) 50/1
Kam Chancellor (SEA) 66/1
Danny Trevathan (DEN) 66/1
Champ Bailey (DEN) 66/1
Zach Miller (SEA) TE 75/1
Matt Prater (DEN) 100/1
Steven Hauschka (SEA) 100/1
Duke Ihenacho (DEN) 100/1
Michael Bennett (SEA) 100/1
Field (Any Other Player) 20/1

How to watch Super Bowl XLVIII

Teams: Seattle Seahawks vs. Denver Broncos

Date: Sunday, February 2, 2014

Kickoff time: 6:25 EST / 5:25 CST

Location: MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey

Super Bowl score by quarter: Live SB Nation scoreboard

Live stream: FOX Sports Go (Sign-in is not required during the Super Bowl TV broadcast)

TV channel: FOX (A full list of international broadcasters is available here)

Radio: NFL on Westwood One (Choose your station here), with Kevin Harlan as the play-by-play announcer

Announcers: Joe Buck and Troy Aikman; Pam Oliver and Erin Andrews are sideline reporters

Officials: Terry McAulay and his crew

Current odds: Broncos by 2-1/2 | O/U: 48

Halftime show performance: Bruno Mars, Red Hot Chili Peppers

National anthem: Renee Fleming

Current ticket prices: TicketMaster.com (GET THEM NOW OR YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO MAKE IT Y'ALL)